Apocalypse City
by Thatoneinternerfreak
Summary: In an apocalyptic city populated by the dead Dave struggles to stay alive and just as he's about to give up he finds something that might just make this all worth it. Loosely based on an ongoing rp this is my first fic so constructive criticism is welcome. Just be gentle please. Zombiestuck,Humanstuck,Sadstuck and Davekat are all implemented.
1. The Apocalypse

Chapter 1

Dave and his older brother where going about their usual business when they heard a shriek coming from the floor above them. They looked at each other, perplexed before Bro took it upon himself to check it out only for him to return with a pale face and blood splattered shirt. He looked at Dave and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the tv cutting over onto a news report. An infection was rapidly spreading through the city. This infection was highly contagious and any possible hosts of the virus should be quarantined immediate until a cure is found. Not long after the broadcast ended gunshots where heard outside followed by screams in terror.

A few hours go by and another broadcast is aired. This time from a low quality camera in what seemed to be an editing booth. At the other end of the camera was a trembling scrawny man holding a kitchen knife coated in blood to match his face and shirt.

"I-I don't know if this will work" He stammered, struggling to find the right words "B-but I don't think I have any more options. T-the infection is spreading much faster than they thought. People- people are going crazy a- a- and...and eating-" He gagged and jumped as a loud bang was heard in the background "They followed me. Oh god they followed me" he hyperventilated gasping for air in his panic, tears pricking the corners of his eyes "D-don't try to fight, they don't feel pain, just run. Just run as fast and as far as you ca-" the broadcast cut out and static filled the room. The two Striders remained in silence until the younger phone sounded and his fingers fumbled to answer the incoming call from Rose.

"Dave? Are you alright? I've been trying to contact anyone and everyone I can for the past half an hour "Her voice was shaky and panicked.

"I'm fine. Do you know what the fuck is going on because I sure as hell would like to know why the guy on the tv is claiming cannibalism to be the next best thing."

"I'm afraid I am just as confused as you are but I think our best option is to meet up some how before it get's to bad. Kanaya and I where thankfully together when this all began but my mother left several hours ago and is yet to return."

"i don't think going out just yet is the best idea. Sit tight and Bro and I'll come over as soon as."

"Very well. I will see you soon" and with that Dave hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

It's been three months since the world went to shit and Dave strider is yet to meet with any of his comrades. comrades being friends he knew before the shit hit the fan but he doesn't doubt for a second that they wouldn't want a bad ass like him on their team, especially one who they knew prior to the apocalypse there fore can trust rather than picking up some untrustworthy bum who would most likely take the first chance they could at back stabbing them. either way he gets ready to head out for another routine search. He rolled up the slightly blood splattered map Bro had required from a small store. Said map was now being used to plot out the ruined city adding land marks and other helpful information about the area.

He planned to raid a convenience store he had been scoping out from a far for quite some time now but had never felt the risk was necessary until now. He managed to get his hands on a motor bike but wasn't planning on using it anytime soon, for the time being it sat outside of his shelter blocking the path to the entrance for a little bit of extra security. it was relatively quiet out so Dave was in no rush just yet but stayed on his guard all the same. The faint smell of decay was unescapable in the city. He's thought about leaving before but that might just drive him further away from his friends.

The city was eerily quiet, heightening Daves senses to the point of flinching at every distant sound. So desolate, so empty. It was hard to believe just a few months ago this place was filled to the brim with all kinds of people. But now it was filled with decay, and abandoned buildings. A shadow of what used to be a thriving city.

When he reached the store it was littered with walking corpses stumbling around and genuinely being a pain in the ass as always, nothing that he couldn't handle. he swiftly made his way into the store sending his sharp blade through the heads of any corpses going at him. He scanned the store but to no avail. His stomach growled pleading for food. Not only was he lacking in food but liquid was scares too. he was usually so picky but now his face lights up at the sight of rain, which is the closest he's ever going to get to a shower for a long time too. in short, he was a dehydrated, starving, unclean mess. "Great " he sighed heading for the exit but before he could get there he heard a faint thud, followed by grotesque groaning and fumbling. He tightened the grip on his sword preparing himself for anything.

"Dave?!"

the blonde froze for a moment. Out of all the things he was prepared for during this trip hearing the voice of one of his old friends was not one of them. He slowly turned around to match the voice to a face and there stood a scruffy and beaten up looking Karkat Vantas with his tanned hand outstretched as if he just dropped something. As relieved he was to see Karkat was alive he wished he had came around at a better time so he could hold onto at least the fragment of dignity he had left.

"Holy fucking shit...You're alive. You're still here?" The dark haired boy jumped the counter running up to Dave and pulling him into a hug so fucking relieved to see him alive. Dave returned the hug holing Karkat as tight as he could, usually he didn't do this sort of thing but this was an exception. He supposed not seeing another living being in so long does that to people. Wow he felt so warm. It was a nice change but on the down side as high hopes he had that all his friends would be ok, he knew he was lying to himself. He barely had enough food to feed himself and he's been in more scrapes than he can Karkat was alone. Then that might mean that they where gone.

After a moment Karkat stepped back holding onto his shoulders looking him over."Fuck, you look like shit. Are you alright?" Karkat knew he didn't look all that grand himself, covered in dirt and bits of blood but he was managing well enough with his frequent runs for food.

"I'm fine" he lied. He wasn't fine. He was starving, sleep deprived, lonely and depressed.

Karkat reached into his pack pulling out a sealed bottle of water popping it open and picking up dave's hand to wrap his thin fingers around it. Karkat had been a courier before everything went to shit so he knew where everything was in town and how to get in. Parkour helped save his ass on more than one occasion having more close calls than he'd ever care to admit. He could tell Dave was worse off then he was." Here, drink. I've got more. Dave are you on your own?"

"Yeah. I was with my Bro for the first week or so, but for the majority of the time I've been alone" He sipped the water severing the relief it gave him.

" ...What happened to your brother?" He hated to ask knowing the most likely answer. Bro strider was the strongest fucker he'd ever met. Him being dead would be a tough thing to swallow and Dave felt a slight twinge in his chest at the thought.

He went quiet for a moment " at the peek of the out break we got out numbered and he got bit saving my ass. It was to early on for me to know he was going to die let alone come back thinking I was an oversized happy meal so iI had to run for it when he did."

The smaller boy grit his teeth cursing the world."I''m sorry Dave..." He sighed shaking his head and taking a breath to get his head on straight."My safe house is only a few blocks over, we can head there once we work on clearing this place out huh?" he gave him a small smile. After finding the blonde he didn't like the idea of being on his own again and sure as fuck wasn't walking away by himself. Whether Dave liked it or not.

"Sure" Dave handed the plastic bottle back to him, taking a hold of the straps to his near empty backpack. Karkat nodded putting his backpack on the counter grabbing the health bar at the top of his collection of food and tossed it to Dave "I'm not even going to ask about the last time you ate anything."

"Nice to see you think so highly of me" He said jokingly as he unwrapped the health bar.

"You're still alive so that's high enough." Karkat cleared out behind the counter, picking up a pistol and flicking on the safety before putting it in the back of his pants.

Dave checked around for anything else after he quickly ate the snack. Running a hand through his unkempt hair he finally picked up up the courage to ask. "So...are you with anyone?." he said, fearing the worst for his friends but needing to know.

Dusting off his hands Karkat stood back up, wiping the dust off the front window and looking out to see a few walkers now on the streets. "I was with John, Jade, Gamzee, Terezi and Vriska on the way too one of those military compounds... I got left behind." He frowned, he knew they had not choice and doesn't hold it against them but it still stung being left for dead."Anyway on our way we met Rose, Kanaya, and a few others. Our group was two big so we split off to meet at the compound." feeling the tenseness in the air Karkat zipped up his backpack and pulled it on, taking his sickle in hand.

He knew that even if they did make it there his friends were probably up shits creak without a paddle under the military treatment. There wasn't anything he could do about that now, now it was him and Dave playing the shit game of survival."Your pack full yet? There is some good shit in the back we can grab and we can use the back door to get the fuck out of here before anymore dead guys catch our scent."

"I've not got that much. just move some of your things into my bag to equal it out." He pulled his bag off handing it to Karkat who nodded and moved some of the cans and water bottles in to Daves bag lifting it a bit to test the weight. If it was anyone else he'd have probably told them to fuck off but not Dave.

Picking up his bag again he zipped it as he walked to the back door."There is some more stuff on the shelves we can take and-fuck!" Karkat pulled open the door only to have a walker charge him grabbing at his sweater, forcing him to the ground and knocking his sickle along the floor while it tried to take a bite out of him. He used his backpack for defence trying like hell to keep it away from his skin.

Dave flinched at the scream and bolted over to Karkat kicking the corpse onto it's side next to Karkat but it still kept a tight grip on him. With one swift motion Dave dig his sword into its head and through the skull making a disguising squishing sound. He retracted the sword sliding it back into its holder before holding a hand out to Karkat "Are you ok? Did it bite you?"

Karkat rubbed his neck checking for any injuries, panting lightly. He looked down at the decaying walker before looking up at Dave seeing his outstretched hand. He took his hand, accepting the help up."Thanks for saving my ass. It didn't get me, don't worry but we should get going before more show up."

"Lead the way"

grabbing his sickle and hooking it onto his belt Karkat walked back to the door this time carefully checking it before walking though. Stepping over the dead bodies he used his flash light to check the dates and labels of the items tossing some in his backpack and some to Dave .When he was done he secured his bag, stepping in front of dave."You have a map? In case something happens it's best we both know the route there."

"Man, you don't even know" He rummaged around his bag for a bit before taking out his map "This was bros idea, it's mostly for keeping tabs on where's safe and where i've been. there's a key code on the back of what all that shit means too so other people who find it might still be able to make a use of it."Karkat looked over the detail in the map very impressed. He never thought to carry one given his mental map but the added detail in this one would make it worth it.

"Damn that's smart. I just clear out the blocks going from the furthest working my way back. This would have saved me some fucking trouble though" he pointed to where they were and gave basic directions on where they were going and how to get in. The building was half blown out but still very stable. Karkat was making use of the top apartment giving him easy access to the water tower and a good vantage point. "The fire escape is the only way in, can you climb? The rail is always up and I jump too it. If we stick together and take it at a good pace we should beat the rain" Dave nodded and Karkat turned off his flashlight and walked to the back door, slowly opening it and checking the alley. He waved Dave to follow and stepped out to the cold afternoon air.


	2. Reminiscing

Chapter 2

Karkat quickly guided them through the back alleys with little incident aside from a few stragglers getting too close. Before long his safe house was in sight just as a small drizzle started leaving the smell of petrichor in the air. Stopping to catch his breath he looked back at Dave "you good?".Dave nodded scanning the area like a machine.

being on his toes was more than instinct for the strider even before the world ended, living with someone as unpredictable as bro was never an easy task but he can't help but be thankful for it. while at the back of his mind he wondered why he was thinking about bro so much now of all times, after he thought he was over it and after finally finding some company. this reminder only results in himself getting angry for feeling this way with in turn makes him more angry for being angry like he knows he shouldn't until he was trapped in a cycle of self loathing and resent. This cycle could last from a few minuets to a few month s, even the smallest reminder throwing him back into the loop.

Karkat eyed dave a moment debating if he was lying to him or not but nodded in return anyway getting back to the task at hand. Something was clearly bothering dave but after so much time alone and what happened to his bro he was bound to have a few issues. Hell he had a few himself and he fucking knew it. Shaking his head he checked the area again timing it right and ushered dave alone to the next alley scowling at the sight of a handful of the dead walking around at the other end. Not wanting to waste time on them he picked up the pace kicking off the wall and catching the railing with his gloved hand pulling himself up and dropping his pack leaning over the edge offering his hand to dave to help him up.

dave took his hand and Karkat gripped it tight, pulling him up and onto the metal platform not letting go lest one of them slipped. Normally the grumpy teen hated the rain, it was loud annoying and wet. Now he was glad for it helping wash away the grime and blood in his hair and on his face. Sadly it also made his sweater heavier. Still holding dave's hand he picked up his pack and pulled him along up the stairs to the highest window and held open the metal grate letting dave go first "fucking rain..."

"this is why i should have stayed in texas" he wiped away the rain droplets obscuring his vision through his shades. He couldn't clean them properly while Karkat was around but this would work for now.

Karkat locked the metal window cover behind them and walked across the room pulling off his drenched sweater and hanging it on a pipe over head."as much as i hate the fucking rain i'd rather that then a drought. Anyway, make yourself at home." He pulled out two towels tossing one to dave. His safe house was an old flat with a few windows on each wall. The couch and a heavy book case were pressed against the door. Some sleeping bags, blankets and pillows were piled in the corner making a nest for a bed. The kitchen was small but the supplies were well stocked. "you hungry?"

"yeah. Thanks" Dave said as he pulled of his backpack and shirt, drying off the best he could.

"you can use the bathroom to get cleaned up. There's a bucket full of water in the tub. I'll make something we can eat.". Dave nodded and made an educated guess at which room the bathroom was and luckily guessed correctly. Once he was inside the building and with Karkat, someone he hadn't seen since all this happened, everything felt a bit more how it was before.

As he cleaned himself up he just now realised how many new scars he had gained over the past few mouths . he ran his fingers over the ones he didn't recall having, trying to think back to when he might have acquired them. he had a lot of scars before the apocalypse thanks to fighting with bro but- shit. he cursed to himself for yet again pushing his bro back into the forefront if his thoughts. He tried to take his mind of it by trying to reach back in his memory to when he could have gotten these markings.

There where several that trailed down his left arm that triggered his memory to about a month ago when he was trapped inside an abandoned house and had to break his way out by punching through a window, with nothing but a raged towel for protection from the razor sharp shards of glass.

Meanwhile Karkat waited for Dave to walk into the bathroom before dragging the bags over to the kitchen he started up the gas stove and set up two cans of beef stew to warm up. Fuck it wasn't weird having someone else around but he'd be damned if he didn't enjoy the company. He did't mind the few days of discomfort that might occur as they adjusted. He tried not to think about the others that had left him not wanting to push his emotional shit on Dave.

Said Strider deemed himself dry enough and quickly slipped on the more comfortable cloths he kept at the bottom of his bag before walking back into the living room area, instantly being hit with the smell of food he followed the aroma into the kitchen to find Karkat scooping warmed beef stew into a couple of bowls tapping his foot to a silent song.

He watched him stretch his arm groaning lightly from the new and old injuries, a few scars here and there the only one of real note along his side marring his ribs badly. He had a messy bandage patch on his back cursing as he tried to scratch at it catching the sight of Dave as he did. "Food's done. How you feeling?"

"Clean" he replied as he slid his shades back into place, looking over to the food with a watery mouth. His stomach growled again. "and apparently hungry."

Karkat dropped a spoon into the bowl and held it out to him. "We got a good haul so don't feel bad about seconds."

Dave let his guard down. A smile sneaking is way across his face as he took the bowl. he hadn't seen food like this in weeks, he was more than happy to forget about the horrors of reality to enjoy this and didn't waist any time before digging in.

Karkat couldn't help but smile slightly in return at seeing the blonde do so. He rarely ever saw a genuine smile from him in his entire life. Slipping over to the window he reached out digging through a fabric net bag, grabbing two bottles and going back to dave's side. He held up a little bottle of liquid gold putting it down next to him on the counter. "Found some aj too. Tell me how awesome I am."

"Shit dude" The small bottle was dented and the label was falling off but he didn't give much of a fuck.

"You know the funny think when I saw that bottle i almost left it, fucking glad as hell I didn't."

"It's hella good you didn't, little piece of heaven right there. Like jesus himself cut a little bit of cloud off his throne, shoved it into a blender and sent it to 'd you even find this?"

"My old job was helpful in figuring out where shit was. It wasn't easy but I made due. Honestly...I Didn't see myself bothering to go on like this for much longer. It was too fucking hard alone you know."

That took him by surprise. He knew Karkat had some mental heath issues. Anyone could see that. He himself, while he would never admit to it, knew he was pretty fucked up too. But actually hearing that coming out of his mouth was totally different. It made everything real in the worst way possible "well I'm here now and I plan on sticking to you like hot glue if you don't have a problem with that. And let's face it even if you did that's never stopped me in the past."

"Not a fucking problem at all.I needed someone to watch over by dumbass again. And to help patch me up as you can see i fucking suck at it." He motioned his hand to the patch on his shoulder that was half on half off exposing a nasty scabbing wound.

"Do you have any medical supplies?" he''d noticed the botched bandaging job before. It was bugging him to hell.

"Yeah, but it can wait till we're done with dinner."

"Bro taught me basic shit about patching up wounds so I should be able to work with what we have" He mentally kicks himself swallowing hard on that last mouthful of food. He thought he'd gotten over this bullshit he hadn't thought about Bro for so much as a second until today.

Karkat had caught the slight cringe Dave had at the mention of his wasn't obvious but he'd learnt a few things about the subtle changes in Daves body language and facial expression, things most people wouldn't even see. "...You want to talk about it? I know i'm not exactly the greatest listener but it's that or a dead body."

"Talk about what?" He kept his eyes glued to the floor and his head up, a habit he'd picked up from years of not having to keep eye contact. his shades had become much more than just an accessory. they where as much a part of him as his arms and legs. he used them to his advantage. making himself appear stronger and more confident than he is. they where also a safety blanket of sorts. he knew that as long as he had them on no one expect from Bro could read him, to his knowledge anyway. without them he'd be completely exposed. all the emotions hidden behind them would come flooding out in a rush triggered by the loss of not having the accessory to use as a crutch if nudged in the right direction.

"About what happened to your brother."

"There's nothing to talk about, it doesn't bother me. He's dead but so are a lot of other people. I don't have time for any bullshit grieving." he lied trying to play it of as nonchalant as possible.

"Yeah just like being left for dead doesn't bother me." he frowned clearly still bothered by what had happened "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine but don't fucking lie about ''s your own fucking brother and I don''t care how fucked up your relationship was because I know for a fact you look up to him with more respect than anyone else."

Dave sighed putting down the now empty bowl, remaining silent

"Dave it's not like your dog ran away. Your brother fucking died protecting you, you have every fucking right to let it get to you and take some time to actually grieve."

"I can't" He put a little more pressure onto that than intended. "If you didn't notice my calendar is already filled with trying not to die." he tried to distract his attention from his slip up.

Karkat sighed and raised up his hand in defeat " you want to bottle shit up, fine. I'm here whenever you pull your head out your ass just so you know." He ate a few more bites nearly done.

"Fine" He picked up the busted old bottle of apple juice heading into the living room with a pain in his sipped the apple juice and was hit with a tidal wave of craved desperately to have that life back. Knowing he could never have it was too painful to think about. His legs suddenly felt weak. He stumbled back to lean against the wall before sliding down to the floor, pulling his legs close to his chest.

Karkat finished eating putting both bowls in the sink and started to put away the supplies they gathered giving Dave some time to himself. He didn't want to appear like he was trying to smother him with coddling attention. The concern levels were off the chart for Dave right now but nothing was fixed in one night. He'd give it time. Walking out to the living area trying to pull off his bandage on his back he paused for a moment seeing Dave.

Sitting down next to him he bumped their shoulders together lightly in silent support.

"Do you still want my help with that?" He lifted his head gesturing towards Karkats wound.

"Damn thing itches like a fucking bitch"

"Do you have some water I could use on it?" his voice seemed to drastically change since they where in the kitchen. All the harshness seemed to face away into a much softer and more subdued tone.

"Yeah." Karkat quickly got up and gathered a bottle of water and a med kit before sitting back down with his back to Dave who did what he could to clean and wrap the wound pinning the new bandage in place with a safety pin

"There" He finished and gently patted his shoulder lightly.

"Thanks" the smaller of the two boys shifted around a bit testing to bandage. "You got anything you need help with?"

"No." he leaned back onto the wall taking another sip of the bottle of closed his eyes taking a deep breath. it felt like he was playing a particularly precarious game of jenga with his subconscious, stacking on thing on top of another and the higher the tower the easier it was going to fall and the harder it was going to hit the ground once it did. he curled up again clinging to his legs desperately trying to keep it together as his mind chipped away at him.

Karkat shifting a little closer. As much as he wanted to say something no words seemed helpful right now. They'd both been through the ringer and back several times in the last three months no doubt and had to do plenty he wasn't proud of be he survived. He was just happy he wasn't the only one anymore needing to remind himself of that several times since first seeing the blonde. Then dave spoke up, after a solid minuet of silence.

"I don't want to do this anymore either." Was all he said, almost like he was ashamed of himself, and in all honesty he was. He was ashamed in himself for reaching out, he was ashamed in himself for being weak, he was ashamed in himself for feeling lonely, he was ashamed of himself for needing someone, He was ashamed of himself for not being as good as Bro was. He felt like he was betraying everything his brother taught him to be.

Dave sniffs feeling a lump grow in his throat and his chest feel like a dagger is going through it "What's even the point? To not die? What's the fucking point in going through all this effort to stay alive when the rest of the world is literally dead. Why am I even trying? I'm surprised I got this far, Bro was so much better than me and he's dead so how in the hell do I have a chance?." words just seemed to spill out of his mouth like tasteless invisible word vomit.

Karkat put his hand on Dave's arm squeezing lightly. He bite his lip and took a few breaths feeling a small sting in his eyes. He thought for a moment before talking "There are no goals, there is no end, there probably isn't anything but we don't have to do it alone anymore, i've got you, you've got me and that's all we need." he stuttered and tripped over his words as he tried to comfort the other knowing he was terrible at doing so before reaching over and taking Dave's glasses from his face

He set them on the table out of reach and put his arm around Dave's shoulder. "Im hardly anyone to ask about showing your true i'm a complete asshat who hides everything with yelling but I can't do that anymore. And you can't bottle shit up like you do, or hide behind a pair of glasses, it will break you to do it. I know it's horrible to say and i'm so fucking sorry...but your brother is dead, you don't need to fight for his approval anymore and you've gotten this far without any help so if he could see you he'd be fucking proud you got this far anyway. You're still here and you're going to keep going and moving forward to prove you're better than that without any of his shit. You've proved to me that you're fucking amazing, you don't need him."

And with that, it all came crashing down. He felt the pieces of his wall crumble and slam into the ground. And it hurt. His heart felt like it was on fire, his chest burning with mouths, no years of oppressed emotions forcing their way out all at once. Dave pressed his forehead onto hie knees, sobbing. He clung to his legs digging his nails into the fabric, couldn't take felt like he was going to be sick.

Karkat ran his fingers through dave's hair feeling like a complete ass but it had to be said. It was no secret among their friends that Dave did all he could to appeal to his brother even at his own expense. Bro wasn't trying to hurt Dave it's just how he honestly thought was the best way to raise him and often it left him giving the younger strider the cold shoulder. He would give dave the time he needed even if he had to push him a bit every now and again. Wrapping his arms tightly around him he let Dave cry it out, a few tears slipping from his own eyes tucking his face into the blondes shirt on his shoulder.


	3. The Plan

Zombiestuck Chapter 3

After almost an entire hour of crying his throat raw Dave sat up straight, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm down, eyes blood shot and puffy. Karkat lifted his head from Dave's shoulder looking at him while trying too wipe the tears off his face with his wrist. Daves hands flopped down to his lap as he looked over to Karkat and tried to find something to say but nothing came out. Karkat squeezed his shoulder rubbing his arm gently. "I'm glad I found you Dave."

Dave nodded and rubbed his puffy blood shot eyes "Me too" His throat ached but he brought himself to say it before taking his last sip of apple juice to sooth the sharp dry pain, savoured the sweet taste in his mouth for a while before finally swallowing.

"We should get some sleep" He motioned over the nest of blankets and pillows laying on top of a worn out mattress "hope you don't mind sharing"

"No, it's cool" He was exhausted both emotional and physically, his whole body felt heavy but empty and not full there.

"Come on." He stood up groaning as his shore muscles argued and offered his hand which Dave took pulling himself up. Karkat kept a hold on his hand bringing him over to the pile and plopped down shivering slightly at the cold blankets soon followed by pulled a blanket up and draped it over them laying on his side facing Dave while the blonde laid on his back, his eyes still puffy and blood shot from earlier. He reflected on the past few hours, staring into the blank ceiling.

He lay still on the hard mattress, one of the springs jaging into his side. He was cold and scared, but at least he could be cold and scared with someone.Karkat moved his hand under the blanket and intertwined their fingers as he held Dave's hand needing a reminder that he was real before closing his eyes. Listening to Daves deep slow breaths as he slipped off to sleep, curled up in the blankets.

The rain calmed down through the night, eventually stopping completely just as the sun made its way back into view. Karkat had curled into Dave's side, wrapping his arm around him while they slept. Dave swayed in and out of sleep for an hour as the sun hit his face while Karkats contorted as unpleasant memories assaulted him in his sleep.

Dave eventually opened his eyes and wiggled out of Karkats grasp to sit up stretching . His sudden movement made Karkat jump up pushing away from him looking around in panic for a moment before realizing where he was and who was with him. He rubbed his face trying to calm down, his heart still pounding.

"You okay?" Dave reached a hand out to him and gave him a worried look.

Karkat took a few shaky breaths and grabbed Daves hand, pulling him back onto the make do bed. "Y-yeah...just...memories gone amok... " He shook his head and started to calm down.

"Right. I wont ask. so what's the plan?" He changed to topic, trying to take Karkats mind off it.

"Uh...no Idea really." Karat replied, running a hand through his hair as he got up, slowly leaving the warmth of the bed to step back into the cold.

"We have enough food to last us a while but if you want to try meet up with the others.." Dave really wanted to see if his other friends where okay, but at the same time he didn't want to see them dead or worse. He didn't like the idea of them hurting like he was. It was a fearful curiosity as his mind dwelled on the concept.

"'That was almost a month ago. They probably got to the military compound. If i'm being completely fucking honest, I think we would be better off shooting ourselves in the head rather than go there...and that's not an option." He shook his head of dark thoughts and went to the kitchen deciding on breakfast, the cold tiles chilling his feet as he stepped in.

He went through the pantry, picking out some mac and cheese and set a pot of water to boil. He stared down at the water as he thought. "I hope the others didn't make it there." He muttered, almost like he didn't want Dave to hear it, or like he didn't want himself to hear it.

Dave stepped into the kitchen after him, leaning on the doorway."I never heard much about them. All I know is that the isolation program was a complete failure" He's seen a few blocked off areas and even broke into a few to scavenge for food, they where hot spots for corpses but loaded with supplies.

"They're refugee camps basically. Military run, supplies, safety, the whole nine yards. That's what they tell you anyway. What they don't tell you is how the... undesirables get lined up along a wall and shot like fucking animals." He scowled gripping the counter until his knuckles turned white

"Undesirable?" He didn't want to believe that meant what he thought it did.

"..the fat, the weak, the old, the sick. Anyone that is too much trouble to keep living." He kept his eyes on the boiling water as he poured the pasta into the pot. "I had to fucking watch as a military convoy shoot survivors like they where nothing. They didn't even fucking care. Saw it all from the roof, "cleaning up" they called it. Sick bastards" He paused for a moment."saw it a week after the others left-...after was alone. I'm not trusting a bunch of strangers with guns and hollow promises."

"If they are there. what are the chances they're okay?"

"...They are strong, young, and smart. I'm sure they were deemed "useful""

"Is there anyway to get them out?"

"Probably not. But you know them, if they really needed too they could slip out one way or another."

"Where do you think they would go if they did?"

"I don't kno-..." He paused for a moment thinking hard "wait...when I was little i took a trip with some family to an old house in the middle of a lake. I told the others about it when we all first gathered together but they decided to go to the camp instead."

"You think they went there?"

"It's a long shot..." He flicked off the stove straining the pasta and mixing in the cheese. "But even if they aren't there it would be a good place to set up. It's secluded, surrounded by deep water, good area for hunting and fishing and with any luck corpses would be washed down stream." He grabbed some plates putting half on each and started eating his own.

Dave took his own plate and fork."Yeah. It'd be nice to get out of the city and actually relax for once instead of waking up in the middle of the night because some cat knocked over a trash can and it attracted some deadbeats"

"So I guess we have a plan. You have any shit you gotta get from where ever you were at? Supplies? Weapons?"

"I had a motor bike with a tank full of gas back at my main place that I was saving for emergences." He took a bite out of the pasta, burning the roof of his mouth.

"Then we should find a van, pump some gas from the tanks of other cars. We can load your bike onto the back and carry extra gas. This isn't a trip we can make on one tank. A car dealer ship would be a good place to look, they keep the keys in the back office."

Dave nodded in agreement, It seemed like a solid enough plan."I don't think I've seen one since before the dead rose from their graves but I know there's one somewhere and I know what it looks like. It might be on the map as well" he took another large mouth full of pasta, blocking out the burning sensation.

"East hallow st and st paul st." He stated remembering the location drinking some water. Daves jaw went slack in surprise, "Your map is damn useful but I jut have shit like that hardwired into my head."

"you're like a fucking super computer, damn I'm impressed."

Chuckles lightly finishing his meal "I'm a courier, if i wasn't on time I didn't get paid. Had to always know the best route to take on foot or bike. Maps take too long and gps doesn't account for alley's and short cuts"

He shoved another mouthful of mac and cheese into his mouth while karkat talked and nodded before swallowing "you'd better show me the way on map so I get a better idea of where we're headed"

He set down his bowel in the sink "alright, might be a good idea to get another map for you to use. Yours is about to fall 'll need one of the highway too."

"Yeah it's been through a lot and this one only covers inside the city. unless you're planning on coming back here after we leave it wont be much use"

"I''m sure they have one's for the highways and shit. So we try to score a van load your bike in the back with our gear and extra gas and if we need rest we can take shifts driving and sleeping."

"Sounds like the best chance we got"


	4. Smoke and Rocks

Zombiestuck Chapter Four

Dave put this now empty bowel down next to Karkats and left the kitchen, shifting through his backpack before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Karkat followed him into the living room and pulled on a basic t-shirt before turning around looking at Dave surprised. "Since when do you smoke?"

"Since I had nothing better to do." It started of as just something to do instead of letting his mind wander, keeping him awake at night. Every night he'd watch the sun go down from a window on the second floor of his shelter. He knew he was probably just making things harder for himself but he had nothing to lose anyway.

"Fair enough." Karkat responded hesitantly, it wasn't the worst thing Dave could have taken up but he'd rather he hadn't taken up anything at all. " Take it to the window though. Of all the things to die from now a days second hand smoke would just be pathetic"

"That's the idea. Something to do while corpse watching." Dave said as he strolled over to the window and sat down on the small ledge. He slid the window open and stuck his head outside, taking an opportunity to look around before lighting one of the cigarettes, the bitter taste lingering in the back of his throat as the smoke floated like silk into the blue sky above.

Karkat grabbed his backpack checking the contents as he took out his sickles and used a wet stone to sharpen them "Anything going on out there?" Without a word Dave held up five fingers. Karkat sighed lightly, catching the message as he worked on his blades. "You want me to sharpen your sword while i'm at it?". Dave nodded in reply, watching the five stumble around. Karkat grabbed Dave's sword from against the wall and carefully pulled it out to clean it.

Daves eyes caught a window on the building across from them. "Do you have anything I can throw into that window to distract them?" He looked over to Karkat, keeping his voice low as to not attract any attention.

"Should be a small bucket of rocks under the table." He kept his eyes on his work starting the sharpen the blade after cleaning the blood off "break a window in one of the far buildings, that usually works" Looking further along the wall Dave could see a numbr of broken windows from where he assumed Karkat had thrown rocks.

He looked back down to the small group below, they bumped and grazed against each other despite having the entire street to themselves. They always seemed to move together in close packs with no particular leader or place to go. "if we're lucky they might just wander off on their own"

"One can only hope, if there's nothing for them to go for they usually don't go anywhere, they just stand there, days, weeks, doesn't matter to them. They don't need to rest so they can just stand there without having to sit down or sleep and still be able to run after you if they spot you." He knew Dave must know this but the words just seemed to fall form his mouth like a slow river, he talked about it in such a matter-of-fact way it was becoming more unsettling to think about this being the norm rather than some isolated threat that will blow over and be nothing more than stories in a few weeks.

"I keep forgetting they where people 's weird to think about, that used to be like us."

It was silent for a while until Karkat responded "Yeah true. I try not to think about them as people. They are fucking dead and that's that. I'm just putting an end to a walking corpse, I draw a line at fucking enjoying it though. Anyone who kills with a smile isn't someone I want to be around" He finished with the blade satisfied when it was shining like new and tucked it back in it's sheath.

"Yeah." he put out cigarette before flicking it out onto the street below . He stood and pulled out the bucket from under the table , grabbing a rock from the bucket he walked back over to the window and tossed it, missing his target "Shit"

Karkat stepped up behind him, seeing the dead walking below and the un broken window "You missed".

"Yeah no shit"

He chuckled, taking a stone in hand and putting it into Dave's "Then try again dipshit. It's fucking rocks not gold we can get more." Dave tried again, several times, missing each time."You're not following through with your toss." He put another stone in Dave's hand and held his own over it to move it in the motion of a throw "Push your hips into it when you throw and it gives it more force, focus on your target and keep your wrist even with it."

"why aren't you the one throwing the rocks seeing as you're apparently an expert. Next thing I know you'll be pulling out your degree in rock tossing and window smashing."

"It's a good thing to know how to do. Besides are you really going to let me one up you?" He grinned knowing Dave couldn't say no, or in this case yes.

And sure enough he threw another rock, missing again, and again, and again. Karkat rolled his eyes and grabbed the bucket of rocks and grabbed Dave's arm. "Okay come on we're going to the roof to practice this shit." He tugged at Daves arm, leading him to the roof, a cold breeze hitting their looked around before putting down the bucket at the edge of the roof. "I don't get how a guy who can kick so much ass can suck so much at throwing a fucking rock."

"Ass kicking doesn't usually involve flinging pebbles"

"Well come on you're going to learn to throw one of these if it takes all day." He pulled out a handful of rocks shoving them into his pocket and stepped onto the ledge motioning his hand for Dave to stand next to him.

"You sure that's safe?" Dave questioned, looking over the long drop with nothing to protect them.

"Are you planning to push me?"

"No."

"Then it's safe, I won't let you fall.I don't plan on drawing more fuckers here."

He stood next to Karkat only for him to step down and move behind him, putting another rock in his looked down to the now much lower window and took another shot. Karkat frowned as the rock hit above the window "Closer at least, haven't you ever thrown a baseball or something?"

"Have you ever tried to talk to me about sports before? Obviously not because then you would have said we ever find rose, just ask her."

"I'm sure Rose will have plenty of horror stories for us when we find her." He rolled his eye and put another rock into Daves hand.

"If I had a computer on me that functioned I'd show you our chat logs about sports. They are legendary. Like. When this all blows over and a new species inhabit out planet they'll find our extravagant conversations on sports and think it was some religious ritual where we worshiped points. Like how people think egyptian worshiped cats but I'm pretty sure they just found them know. Like we do, just cuz they got their asses mummified doesn't mean they weren't people and people love cats."

"You think of the most irrelevant bullshit I've ever witnessed. I hope you're proud, and I'm sure your sports related conversations went on for miles and would make every sport icon out there weep of your ignorance to their profession."

"any conversation with me can go on for miles and be completely irrelevant to the topic at hand." he tossed another rock and watched it go crashing into a window. The glass fell down to the street below in a glistening shower of light reflecting off the falling shards The dead fumbled their way towards it, trailing blood across the street as they limped into broken glass, a few shards landing in their heads and shoulders, unfortunately not enough to kill."Were you aiming for that one?"

"No but that's good enough for me"

Karkat rolled his eyes "Alright fine, that can count for now. We can work on it more later. Let's get moving."


	5. The Break in

Zombiestuck Chapter Five

Dave stepped down from the ledge following Karkat back inside. They quickly descended the steps before re-entering the living room and closing the door behind them. Karkat picked up his worn backpack and sickles. "I put some emergency shit in your bag just in case while I was sharpening your sword."

"And that would be?" Dave asked curiously, he wouldn't be all the comfortable with someone snooping through his stuff without permission if it wasn't for the fact he didn't have anything personal on him in the first pace.

"First aid, flash light, some food and water. The basic shit." He tossed Dave his backpack and held out the sword. The taller boy slung the bag over his shoulder and took his sword from Karkat, taking it out to take a few satisfactory swings with the sharpened blade before sliding it back into its sheath.

While he did that Karkat unlatched the window grate and stepped onto the fire escape holding it open for Dave who soon followed behind after he finished playing with his sword. He latched the grate behind them and climbed down the fire escape, keeping a firm grip on the cold, slippery metal bars. "Watch your grip, the metal is fucking soaked." He landed on the ground looking around to be safe and motioned Dave to follow him towards the end of the alley.

He held a sickle in one hand and waved the all clear to Dave before running across the street to the next alley. Karkat lead the way, keeping an even pace and checking corners. The other stuck closely behind Karkat, stepping cautiously through the dark and grimy alleys and before long they arrived at the street with the car dealer ship across from them. A large glass building with cars on display all around it. A few dead could be seen walking around in the display lot but the inside was untouched. Like a bubble of the world was frozen in time just before the apocalypse.

Karkat checked the street before running across and ducked behind a four door car, peeking through the window to make sure they weren't seen. Trying the door he cursed under his breath as he found it locked and ducked back behind the car. "We need to figure out a way to get in without attracting too much attention."

Dave looked around the abandoned lot for anything that could help them get inside without making a scene. There was a small crashing sound as one of the dead kicked over a small metal tool box. Dave snuck over there, ducking behind cars until he was behind the dead woman. He made one swing, decapitating the rotting body and grimaced as the head rolled away to bump into the building across the street.

Tools where scattered across the floor for Dave to quickly collect and sprint back to Karkat before anything noticed him. They kept low getting to the door. "Watch my back" he whispered pulling out a hammer. He pulled it back, ready to swing.

"Wait. If you just bust the lock the alarm for this place is going to go off and get every dead beats attention for miles shit-for-brains."

Dave lowered the hammer. "We'll just have to take them out and break in another way." He went to put the hammer back in the tool box when he noticed something strange at the bottom, it looked leather. He moved the tools out of the way and found a set of keys. "Holy shit."

"What?"

Dave pulled out the set of keys, Karkats eyes went wide. "How much do you wanna bet one of these are for the door." He said before trying one of the keys, moving onto the next when it didn't work.

"If they are then I'd say we hit a lucky streak." He said just as Dave slipped the key through the lock, making a satisfying click when he turned it and opened the door. "We're in." Dave took the lead, walking inside the building with Karkat right behind him. On closer inspection the building wasn't completely like it was that day, dust caked over every surface and desk like a blanket.

"I'll check out the desk while you go see what's behind that door." Karkat pointed towards a door on the far wall before walking over to the desk.

The blonde cautiously approached the door grasping his trustworthy weapon tightly. He froze at the door prepping himself before swinging it open to find a long empty hallway with more doors, each with a metal name plate.

Karkat dug around in the desk, moving things around until he found a large safe. He sprinted over to the door to call for Dave "Found it."

Dave tossed the keys over to Karkat to unlock the safe and moved over to the desk, sliding behind it there where two small drawers and one big one with a lock attached to the bottom of the desk. he opened the top drawer pulling out a black book before moving onto the second. "Looks like they guy who used this was a smoker."

"Lucky for you." He got the safe open and found all the hanging tagged keys. "Got them."

He shoved what he found into his bag before grabbing the worn down book "I'm guessing this is the thing they use to match the numbers up to the cars."

"Yeah. They use serial numbers on the key's so if someone tries to steal them quick they don't know what car they go to." Dave handed him the book to look through, picking out a truck. He ditched the book and stood up looking out the window. trying to find the trucks in the lot "Alright so how are we going to get to the trucks?"

Dave looked out the window next to Karkat."it looks like there are at least three fuckers wandering around but they're pretty spread out"

"We can work with that"

"I'll grab the gas and meet you with it at the exit while you get the truck. if we do this quickly we'll be gone before they notice us"

Karkat debated in his mind for a moment before nodding "alright. We'll meet at the front door." He made his way out the door and kept low near the cars trying to get to the trucks without being seen. He checked around and found the truck only to see two dead stumbling around it.

He held his sickle tight and sneaked up behind one of the dead, stabbing it through the skull before throwing it into the other making them both fall to the ground. He killed the last corpse before it could grab him or get up from under the other body. Unfortunately his sickle got stuck inside it's head. He grimaced and tugged at the weapon eventually ripping the decomposed head open just enough for the weakened bone and brain to hang by the skin or fall into a pile on the ground."Jesus fuck." He pulled his eyes away from the disgusting sight and focused on getting the truck but the smell embedded it's self into his nostrils making him gag.

He opened the door and sat inside the truck, cringing as it rumbled to life when he turned on the engine. He pulled it out of park and made his way to the front door to find Dave with two containers filled with gas waiting for him and before he could say anything Dave rushed to throw the containers inside and get into the truck as the sound caught the attention of the near by dead.

Karkat followed his lead and quickly started the truck again manoeuvring around the abandoned cars and driving over the dead that got in his way while they raced back to safety.


	6. Leaving Home

Zombiestuck Chapter 6

They drove back to the safe house, the only sound between them being the low hum of the they approached the building the group from before became aware of the large metal box headed towards them "Aw shit." Karkat cursed and took a sharp turn into an open part of the building. "Get out and grab our stuff. I'll ward them up." He ordered as he grabbed his sickle and opened the car door.

Dave nodded and went out the other door as Karkat ran up ahead to distract the corpses. Dave slipped past them and climbed back up the fire escape. He grabbed whatever he could, stuffing anything they might need into his bag. Karkat climbed into the window with a freshly blood splattered face and helped stuff their bags. "more came around. We can't go down the fire escape but if we go down a floor there is a huge ass hole that leads to the ground floor where i parked the truck."

"It''s better than getting out ankles bit off"

"True but it's not very stable so we'll have to be careful." Dave nodded as Karkat lead him to the new exit. A floor down an entire chunk of the floor was gone or breaking away. Karkat checked below them before taking a running jump, making a loud bang that echoed through the streets as he landed on the roof of the now dented truck. "Shit" He whispered to himself and stood there silently, waiting, preparing himself.

In that moment it felt as if time stopped. Everything went silent. Karkats heard pounded in his chest, every breath felt like it was going through a loud speaker until the slow rising of loud moans grew and he jumped down to the ground. "Go go go!"

Dave tensed up as he tried to take a step forward and the floor felt weak under his weight. His palms sweated as he tried to move again but the floor couldn't take any more crumbling into pieces under him. He took a leap of faith for the roof and fell just short. Landing at an awkward angle

Karkat jumped back to avoid the falling rubble and looked over to see Dave on the ground through a cloud of dust. He kneeled at his side and pulled him up to help him up and into the truck.

As the dust cleared the dead started to flood into the building and Karkat shoved Dave into the truck. He ran around to his side not even bothering to close Daves door as he sliced through a corpse just for another to lash out at him. He jumped back and ran around to his side and quickly got into the truck ,slamming on the gas "brace yourself ." He said as Dave slammed his door shut onto a legless corpse, blood dripping down the door and into the floor of the truck.

Karkat drove into the crowd mowing down the courses and getting to the street where he took a sharp turn and drove off.

Looking behind them Dave seen the few dead left standing chase after them while even more emerged from dark corners of buildings and alleys. Karkat focused on driving trying to get through the streets without crashing. "It's going to be a couple of days worth of driving." He sighed glancing over at dave "You alright? That fall looked pretty bad."

Dave nodded and feathered his fingers over his swelling ankle "Yeah. I've had worse" He lied and sat back up to look out the window.

"I've broken my fucking leg before but that doesn't mean a twisted ankle doesn't still hurt." Karkat replied without taking his eyes off the road

"And a corpse isn't going to give me a head start if I'm feeling a bit under the weather."

"True which is why you should cut the macho shit and tell me if you're hurt so I can wrap your ankle or something. I'd rather not end up dead because you didn't tell me you twisted your ankle. "Karkat argued only to be retorted with a stubborn "It's fine" form Dave. He sighed and shock his head, decided to let it go for now at least. Dave crossed his arms over his chest and rested his head on the door window.

After a quick stop at Daves old hide out to pick up his bike they where on their way out of the city. Dave sighed as he watched the city, their old home, vanish into the distance as they left. He used to wonder what it would be like when he finally moved out but this was far from a welcomed change. Karkat didn't let himself think about such things, focusing on where they where going and the long trip ahead.


End file.
